Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[craigkillie]

Way to think for yourself.

[deegee]

If folk think there are only fine marginal differences between Scotland and England, in relation to current attitudes, then I disagree. I travel between the nations and Ireland with work and there is rarely a mask and definitely folk acting less fearful in England. 
You get certain independent run shops (in smaller market towns or posh parts of London) who have virtue- signalling signs about keeping safe, wear masks etc but tbh in most places folk seem to have gone back to getting on with life. I stopped at Carlisle last week on way home for a few cases of cheap beer at ASDA just off the M6 and there were probably 60-40 wearing masks but anywhere further south, you’ll struggle to see one. I’m in London next week and won’t expect to wear one the minute I leave Heathrow.

Talking to a few Irish folk last week, they say they are suffering, like Scotland with a political “game” where the parties are trying to “care more” with punitive and economically crippling rules.

In Stirling today, there’s folk acting weird if you stand a metre from them, some youngish guy was obsessively washing his hands with the hand gel at the till in the Fat Face shop like his life depended on it. In Marks & Sparks there were folk literally jumping out my way as I walked through the store; it’s bizarre and as I said months ago, there’s far more long term risk to some folks’ mental health with this climate of absolute fear and terror about a virus which is well under control.

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, deegee said:

I’m in London next week and won’t expect to wear one the minute I leave Heathrow.

It will be interesting to hear how you find it on the Piccadilly Line. 

[deegee]

Won’t be on the Tube. I’ve a hire car and staying in Chiswick. From what I’m told by colleagues in London, mask wearing is patchy on the tube too, depending naturally on time of day etc.

Folk can wear masks from now till the end of time, for all I care. It’s just the fact that a piece of usually ill- fitted, non medical grade manky cloth rag seriously impacts on folks’ perception of risk and safety.

Out of interest, why do you think I’d be on the Piccadilly Line anyway and what were you expecting me to answer?

[welshbairn]

5 minutes ago, deegee said:

Won’t be on the Tube. I’ve a hire car and staying in Chiswick. From what I’m told by colleagues in London, mask wearing is patchy on the tube too, depending naturally on time of day etc.

Folk can wear masks from now till the end of time, for all I care. It’s just the fact that a piece of usually ill- fitted, non medical grade manky cloth rag seriously impacts on folks’ perception of risk and safety.

Out of interest, why do you think I’d be on the Piccadilly Line anyway and what were you expecting me to answer?

It's just how most people leave Heathrow, no biggie. Was just interested to get your impressions of the percentage of people wearing masks on the Tube, I'd heard it's quite high.

[deegee]

2 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

It's just how most people leave Heathrow, no biggie. Was just interested to get your impressions of the percentage of people wearing masks on the Tube, I'd heard it's quite high.

Fair enough question mate. I just don’t ever get the Tube from the airport tbh and always get a car at T5 from Avis. From what I hear, there’s a similar clash to Scotland where the mayor, Sadiq Khan will do the opposite to the Tory Government which leads in turn to folk being polarised on things like mask wearing on the tube. The times in the past few months I’ve been in London, I genuinely drop the mask as I leave the terminal and won’t have it on till I’m heading home. Last time I on the Docklands Light Railway or on the Tube, it was very mixed compliance with masks. As I said previously, I’m told masks are basically patched come the evening passengers.

[deegee]

Going even by the last few pages on this thread, which has been a generally interesting read this past 20 months, it’s clear folk are getting to the end of their tether, there’s lots of bickering with little actual benefit to the thread content and it’s probably a good thing we’re losing our heads over graphs and masks, rather than huge numbers of deaths. 

If we could take a step back, we’d realise surely this has become a political shit- show and hobby horse across many many nations since Spring 21, due mainly to the vaccines being a fantastic success but frankly politicians of all colours have seized their moment and want to keep up their opportunity to impose punitive controls. Surely if figures stay as they are and if winter seasonal flus overtake COVID as being a pest for the population, then we can hope the NHS gets back to normal and folk can get back to absolute normal; not some masked- up or passport- regulated normal. 

Surely that’s all what everyone wants?

[Todd_is_God]

46 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

It will be interesting to hear how you find it on the Piccadilly Line. 

Honking simp patter

[welshbairn]

25 minutes ago, deegee said:

Fair enough question mate.

 

2 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

Honking simp patter

[Happy1]

18 minutes ago, deegee said:

Going even by the last few pages on this thread, which has been a generally interesting read this past 20 months, it’s clear folk are getting to the end of their tether, there’s lots of bickering with little actual benefit to the thread content and it’s probably a good thing we’re losing our heads over graphs and masks, rather than huge numbers of deaths. 

If we could take a step back, we’d realise surely this has become a political shit- show and hobby horse across many many nations since Spring 21, due mainly to the vaccines being a fantastic success but frankly politicians of all colours have seized their moment and want to keep up their opportunity to impose punitive controls. Surely if figures stay as they are and if winter seasonal flus overtake COVID as being a pest for the population, then we can hope the NHS gets back to normal and folk can get back to absolute normal; not some masked- up or passport- regulated normal. 

Surely that’s all what everyone wants?

I mean the vaccines could be arguably a success for the high risk, and certainly for the vaccine companies who have rolled them out with impunity from prosecution, whilst still under trials and on the back of dubious data, but not so much for the people who have to be coerced to take it, had severe adverse reactions or were told it was “highly effective” when in fact it doesn’t stop infection, transmission or even last long before you need a booster and can only even be called a vaccine because the definition was changed. 

[Left Back]

1 hour ago, deegee said:

Won’t be on the Tube. I’ve a hire car and staying in Chiswick.

Why on earth would you hire a car to get to Chiswick?  By the time you’ve pissed about picking up the car you would already be in Chiswick if you jumped on the tube.

[deegee]

2 minutes ago, Left Back said:

Why on earth would you hire a car to get to Chiswick?  By the time you’ve pissed about picking up the car you would already be in Chiswick if you jumped on the tube.

I’m down till Thursday afternoon and have meetings in Essex as well as most probably visiting new customer sites to the west of London. No chance I’d do that for 3 days on the Tube tbh. Plus as a perk of being on AVIS loyalty scheme, the keys are literally waiting for me at their kiosk at the car park directly next to T5. I’d be in the car and on the road within minutes compared to getting a train. 

[Elixir]

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

It will be interesting to hear how you find it on the Piccadilly Line. 

 

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

It's just how most people leave Heathrow, no biggie. Was just interested to get your impressions of the percentage of people wearing masks on the Tube, I'd heard it's quite high.

 

lol wut

Rode the Piccadilly Line several times a couple of weeks back, including to and from Heathrow, and while admittedly mask wearing is high among folk clearly going to the airport or folk first heading into the city, as you progress past the first few stops fewer and fewer people give a toss.

At best its 50-50 on the tube, and I'd say business types are even less likely to be wearing one. In shops and museums etc you're lucky if a quarter of people are, while in bars and restaurants it's literally zero for obvious reasons, with no contact tracing, plastic screens and most staff not wearing them, which was nice to see.

As an aside, is mask wearing actually even still required in English airports? The Scandinavians have certainly binned them in airports and on flights within/between Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

[deegee]

I think in fairness masks are still required in English airports but I really don’t know if that’s enforced by law. I was in Heathrow last month and I didn’t wear a mask after security. There was probably 20- 25% non wearers but bear in mind the number of international travellers. A fortnight ago in Birmingham airport, I would say there was more likely 50-50 compliance, which went to about 25% once folk hit shops and restaurants area.  
 

When I was in Birmingham three weeks ago, I took the train in the evening to Leicester (to visit daughter who is at college there) and masks were basically 5% worn. In Leicester, we went for a meal and game of bowling. I went for a beer before heading back to Brum and I’d say there was virtually zero masks anywhere I was from 5pm until getting back to Brum at 11ish. 

Compare this to Stirling today and it was 95% masked up scared folk. I have ditched the mask now for a few weeks but that’s my personal choice. 

 

[deegee]

3 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

My local optician washes down their seats after every customer and is forcing people to wash their hands as a condition of being seen.

So that's one customer they've lost after 20 years of using them.

f**k 'em. Between Specsavers and this OCD shite, they'll not be in business for much longer.

Honestly. Handwashing. To protect against an airborne virus.

This is mental illness. No doubt about that.

I popped into the local (popular)  bar/ restaurant a couple minutes walk from my house tonight, for a pint before dinner. It staggered me to see hand wash on every table and most of the folk arriving were obsessively rubbing their hands in gel the second they entered the premises. Instructions on hand washing everywhere in the toilets and staff taking to each other with masks on..it was nothing more than a pantomime of fear but it worries me how terrified folk actually are!

It frankly boils down to and doesn’t help that Nicola’s cult followers will obsessively follow her lead (and I include my other half in this).

[TheScarf]

Do folk realise the mask legislation is different in England and Scotland?

[Lyle Lanley]

14 minutes ago, deegee said:

I popped into the local (popular)  bar/ restaurant a couple minutes walk from my house tonight, for a pint before dinner. It staggered me to see hand wash on every table and most of the folk arriving were obsessively rubbing their hands in gel the second they entered the premises. Instructions on hand washing everywhere in the toilets and staff taking to each other with masks on..it was nothing more than a pantomime of fear but it worries me how terrified folk actually are!

It frankly boils down to and doesn’t help that Nicola’s cult followers will obsessively follow her lead (and I include my other half in this).

Popped in to grab a McDonald’s yesterday. They wanted to me to do test and trace and had to wait until the self service kiosk was clear to place my order on the screen. Was only asking to take it away. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Lyle Lanley

[Dawson Park Boy]

31 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

My local optician washes down their seats after every customer and is forcing people to wash their hands as a condition of being seen.

So that's one customer they've lost after 20 years of using them.

f**k 'em. Between Specsavers and this OCD shite, they'll not be in business for much longer.

Honestly. Handwashing. To protect against an airborne virus.

This is mental illness. No doubt about that.

Interesting.

I went to my local Vision Express a couple of weeks ago, and, as usual, I was mask free. No comments whatsoever.

I do agree, however, with the earlier poster that things seem to be getting worse here in Central Scotland..

Wherever we go, my wife and I seem to be the only people not wearing masks, whereas, a month or two back we would always see quite a few likeminded people.

At a funeral a couple of days ago and, again, we were the only ones unmasked. People were singing hymns through their masks.

Absolutely ludicrous behaviour!!

Edited November 6, 2021 by Dawson Park Boy
Omission

[pozbaird]

1 hour ago, Elixir said:

 

 

lol wut

Rode the Piccadilly Line several times a couple of weeks back, including to and from Heathrow, and while admittedly mask wearing is high among folk clearly going to the airport or folk first heading into the city, as you progress past the first few stops fewer and fewer people give a toss.

At best its 50-50 on the tube, and I'd say business types are even less likely to be wearing one. In shops and museums etc you're lucky if a quarter of people are, while in bars and restaurants it's literally zero for obvious reasons, with no contact tracing, plastic screens and most staff not wearing them, which was nice to see.

As an aside, is mask wearing actually even still required in English airports? The Scandinavians have certainly binned them in airports and on flights within/between Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

Would agree about mask wearing being about 50-50 on the London underground. Maybe even 40-60. That was my experience a couple of weeks ago while down there for the NFL.

[Wee Bully]

50 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

My local optician washes down their seats after every customer and is forcing people to wash their hands as a condition of being seen.

So that's one customer they've lost after 20 years of using them.

f**k 'em. Between Specsavers and this OCD shite, they'll not be in business for much longer.

Honestly. Handwashing. To protect against an airborne virus.

This is mental illness. No doubt about that.

I still find it amazing, watching people complain about washing their hands.   @oaksoft You really are a clatty b*****d.

Utter moonhowling nonsense